Certain medical conditions, such as strokes, cardiovascular blockages, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism, are treated with the administration of an anticoagulant, to prevent the formation of blood clots and the extension of existing clots. A widely used anticoagulant is heparin. However, some patients develop allergic responses to heparin and a serious side-effect of heparin is heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). HIT is caused by an immunological reaction that makes platelets a target of immunological response, resulting in the degradation of platelets and causing thrombocytopenia. These patients would benefit from the availability of alternative anticoagulants.
Heparin results in the inactivation of thrombin and other proteases involved in blood clotting (most notably factor Xa). The actions of heparin are limited to anticoagulant activity and heparin does not demonstrate anti-inflammatory activity. Alternatives to heparin, possessing both anticoagulant activity and additional activities, such as anti-inflammatory activity, are needed. Such alternatives, demonstrating, for example, both anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory activities, could be administered in the early stages of a medical crisis to both antagonize clot formation and to limit tissue damage caused by inflammatory responses.